Car-brake



UNrrEn STATES PATENT. OEI-nono PETER M. EALroN, E EvEE'soN,PENNSYLVANIA.

CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 249,226, dated November8, 1881.

v Application filed April 16, 1881. (No modeLl To all whom it mayconcern: v

Be'it known that I, PETER M. 'DAL'rorn of Everson, in the county of'Fayette and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Railroad-Brakes; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a f ull, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, inwhich-- Figure lis aplan view, showing myimproved brake as it may beapplied to railroad-cars. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the draw-headand spring as adapted to my invention.` Fig. 3 is a detached plan viewof the auxiliary spring on the end of the draw-head beam as adapted inmy invention. Fig. 4 is an end view of the same; and Fig. 5 is a planview, showing the side of the saine without the spring.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each.

My invention relates to that class of brakes for railroad-cars` by meansof which the engineer can control the motion of the train; and itconsists in certain combinations-with the brake-lever, brake rod orstaff, and brake-chain or like exible connection between the brakeleverand brake-staff, of a movable or sliding draw-head, which acts directlyupon the brakechain, and of fulcra arranged upon the car-bed in the pathof the brake-chain, and with relation to the movable or slidingdraw-head, so that the direct thrust of the draw-head shall take up theslack of the brake-chain and by its direct action apply the brakes, andin com bining with the movable draw-head a relief-sprin g arranged onthe rear end of the saine, to prevent the rupture of the brake-,chain.by the sudden thrust of the direct-acting draw-head, all as willhereinafter more fully appear.

I will now describe my invention according to the modification shown inthe drawings.

a represents a portion of the bed of a railroad-car 5 b, the wheels c,the axle 5 d, the drawhead; c, the spiral spring in the cylinder; e',cylinder which is lattached to the frame of the car, the purpose of thespring e being to act as a cushion when the draw-head is pushed in bythe cars coming together.

f is an extension of the draw-head beam, on which, beyond the spring cand cylinder e', is a collar, g. Beyond this collar g isa cylinder, h,through which the end of the draw-head beam passes. Inside of thiscylinder is a spiral spring, t', and at the end of the cylinder next thecollar g is a disk, 7c, which rests against the spring in the cylinder.Beyondthe cylinder 71l are two pulley-wheels, Z l, attached to the frameof the ear; and between and beyond these wheels is another pulley-wheel,m, which is pivoted in a U-beam, n, which extends from the far end ofthe cylinder h.

o is the brake-lever, which may be ot' the usual form.

p is the` brake-chain, which passes from the brake-lever o over thefrontot' the wheel l; thence over the back of the wheel m in the U- beamn, and 'thenceover the front of the wheel l, to the brake-rod q, whichmay be of the usual v form, extending to the top or side of the car.

The operation of this deviceis as follows: The chain p being woundaround the brake-rod q sufficiently to take in the slack, when theengineer desires to put on the brakes he applies the brake tothe engine,which causes the cars of the train to push a gainsteach other by reasonof their momentum. This thrusts in the drawheads, the spiral spring coffering sufficient resistance to prevent a jar which would injure thecars. The collar f pressing against the disk 7c carries the cylinder g,U-beam n, and wheel m with it, which Wheel In draws the chain o, andthereby moves the brakelever q sufficiently to put on the brakes,orcauses them to press against the wheels b of the car. The spring 'iacts as a cushion to prevent the sudden thrust of the draw-head beamfrom breaking the chain p, and also to prevent more than a certainamount of strain being put on the chain p after the brakes are applied.By the arrangement ot' the pulley-wheels l, L', and m the portion p ofthechain p is caused to move twice the distance traveled by the wheel n;and by attaching the end of the chain p to the brake-lever o at a pointnearer the fulcrum, the distance over which the lever will travel may beincreased. In order to release the brakes the engineerhas simply tostart his engine.

When it is desired to back the train without at the same time putting onthe brakes, the brake-rod q should be released, thereby slacking thechain p sufliciently to prevent the brakes beingapplied by the inwardthrust-of the drawhead. By this arrangement of the different parts thebrakes may be put on one or all of IOO d, gggg y y j "brakerod in theusual manner.

the cars in the train by the inward thrust of the draw-head, as thisthrust does not apply' brakes have been applied by the brake-rod,

and the draw-head should be pressed in by two cars coming together, theforce will be taken up by the spring i, and thereby prevent the chain orother parts of my device from being broken; or an eXtra chain maybeused, by means of which the brakes maybe applied by the brake-rodwithout tautening the chain p.

The advantages of my invention are that it is simple, cheap, and easilyapplied. By its use the engineer can have complete control over thetrain, and can by simply shutting off the steam and applying the brakesto the engine and tender cause the cars ofthe train to come together,and thereby quickly bring them toastand-still.Byitsusethenumberofbrakemen needed on a train will be reduced, and theliability to accidents lessened.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, in an automa-tic carbrake, of a brake-lever and abrake-staff, the two directly connected by a brake-chain or like 2&9226

eXible connection, fulcra arranged on the carbed in the path of thebrake-chain, and a sliding draw-head arranged to act directly on thebrake-chain and take up the slack thereof by forcin g the chain betweenor around the fulcra. the several elements being relatively arranged andcoactin g substantially as and for the purpose specilied.

2. The combination, with the brake-lever, the brake rod or staff, andthe brake-chain or eXible connection between the same, of the movabledraw-head having a pulley on its rear end, and the two pulley-wheelsarranged in the path ofthe brake-chain and lon either side of themovable draw-head, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination, with the brake-lever, brake-chain, and fulcralocated on the frame of the draw-head in the path of the brake-chain, ofa movable draw-head having at its inner end the pulley-wheel and springrelief mechanisrn, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. I PETER M. DALTON.

Witnesses:

JOHN F. KAINE,

R. W. P. RIonARDsoN.

